• 4/24-5/11 - MCAP Testing (see chart below for specific grades/dates)
• 5/5 - "Me and My VIP" PTA Event
• 5/17 - BES Spring Concert
• 5/23 - BBQ Lunch
• 5/26 - Field Day, 1PM Dismissal
• 5/29 - Schools Closed for Memorial Day
• 6/6 and 6/7 - 2PM Dismissal
• 6/8 - Last Day of School for Students, 5th Grade Advancement @10:30 AM, 1PM Dismissal

Just in time for Earth Day tomorrow, we learned that Bayside Elementary School has been awarded our Green School Re-Certification! Here is part of the announcement from MAEOE (Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education):

"Dear Bayside Elementary,

Congratulations! Your 1st Application has been approved and your school is recognized as a Maryland Green School! The Maryland Green School award represents a school-wide commitment to environmental literacy that includes staff, students, and the community. Your efforts make a difference today and in the future! We recognize the green efforts your school has worked to achieve, and we commend this significant accomplishment.

Each Maryland Green School is part of a national and international community working to create a more sustainable future. Each year your students develop a greater understanding of their local environment and use their voice and leadership skills to encourage others to recycle and compost, plant vegetables and native plants, using refillable water bottles to reduce plastic waste, and be more mindful of simple steps like turning off unnecessary lights."

Special thanks go to Ms. Nancy Crim and Mrs. Juliet Sonneveldt for their efforts in leading our Green School initiative. Congratulations to Bayside!

During the next month, we will begin the process of grouping students for the 2023-2024 school year. Classroom teachers and specialists will be meeting in grade level teams and forming groups based on multiple criteria. This criteria includes such things as instructional levels in reading, writing and math, as well as individual needs. Our staff works diligently to ensure each child is placed in the most appropriate educational setting.

If you feel you have additional information regarding characteristics or needs of your child that you would like our staff to consider when determining appropriate grouping, please complete this BES Consideration Form or share your input in writing and send it to my attention. Individual requests for a specific teacher will not be considered. We would appreciate this input by Friday, May 5th.

We hope to have tentative placement letters sent out by early to mid-August.

We appreciate your input regarding your child’s strengths and needs. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact me at the school.

Sincerely,

Louisa Welch, Principal

Queen Anne’s County Public Schools (QACPS) Communications Specialist, Lanette Power-Waters, would like to invite all QACPS students, staff, family, and community members to “subscribe” to QACPS News Posts. Please go to https://www.qacps.org/ and select “Subscribe” at the top white banner or click here. You will be asked to enter your email address and a confirmation email will be sent to you.

Any questions or concerns should be directed to lanette.power-waters@qacps.org

Did you know that denim jeans can be recycled into new items? Denim can be used to make products like rugs, coasters and purses, as well as other items. We would like to help keep jeans out of our trash and not end up in landfills. We are going to start collecting used denim jeans here at Bayside. If there are any old jeans that you are planning to throw away, please send them in to school for our jeans recycling project. The jeans may be stained or ripped. There will be a collection box in the school lobby labeled Recycling Jeans Project. We will continue this project through the school year. Let’s see how many jeans we can keep out of the landfills!

Parents: Thank you in advance for doing your part to reduce the spread of illness at BES!

Please read the following information on pink eye and strep!

Is it pink eye?

We have been seeing quite a few cases of conjunctivitis, commonly known as "pink eye" in the health room. There is no particular grade level. Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is an irritation or inflammation of the conjunctiva, the inner lining of the eyelids. It can be caused by allergies, bacterial infection, or viral infection. Conjunctivitis can be extremely contagious, and is spread by contact with eye secretions from someone who is infected.

Symptoms include: redness, itching, and tearing of the eyes. It can also lead to discharge or crusting around the eyes, that is a yellow-green in color. Commonly, individuals will wake up in the morning with their eyelashes stuck together.

Please be aware of the symptoms, and if your student has symptoms keep them home from school and call your family physician for evaluation.

Conjunctivitis (Pink eye) Information:

• Bacterial & viral pink eye can spread easily from person to person.

• If you have pink eye, avoid sharing items such as: towels, sheets, pillow cases, & makeup.

• Wash & change the towels, sheets, & pillow cases. Clean or purchase new makeup brushes & makeup such as eyeliner, mascara, & eye shadow.

• Your physician will assess, and if the diagnosis is pink eye, our school policy is that a student must be on treatment for 24hrs and cleared by his/her health care provider before returning to school. This is important to decrease the spread of infection.

• Please obtain a doctor’s note with a return date for school.

STREP THROAT???

***Be aware, many cases recently, particularly in 4th grade!!

Strep bacteria are very contagious. Generally, people spread the bacteria to others through

• Respiratory droplets (from talking, coughing or sneezing)

• Direct contact

It usually takes two to five days for someone exposed to strep bacteria to become ill with strep throat.

People can get sick if they:

• Breathe in respiratory droplets that contain the bacteria

• Touch something with those droplets on it and then touch their mouth or nose

• Drink from the same glass or eat from the same plate as a person infected with group A strep bacteria

Common symptoms may include:

• Fever

• Pain when swallowing

• Sore throat that can start very quickly and may look red

• Red and swollen tonsils

• White patches or streaks of pus on the tonsils

• Tiny, red spots on the roof of the mouth, called petechiae (pronounced pi-TEE-kee-eye)

• Swollen lymph nodes in the front of the neck

Other symptoms may include:

• Headache

• Stomach pain

• Nausea or vomiting

• Rash

Strep is diagnosed with a throat culture. If positive, antibiotics will be prescribed. Your child should stay home for 24 hours after starting the course of antibiotics before returning to school.

• AM Parent Drop-Off- Please note the following:

1. If you are dropping your student off in the front loop, please be sure to remember to pull all the way forward around the loop in order to allow as many students to unload as possible.
2. For the safely of our students and staff, please remain in a single file line and do NOT pass other cars in the line.

• Bus Assignments- Parents are reminded that students must ride their assigned bus. Vacations, temporary work assignments, social events, riding to a friend’s home, or other foreseen events will not be approved for change in bus assignment.

• Early Dismissal Days- Please send us a note in writing if your child's transportation home will be changed on our 1 PM dismissal days. Thanks so much for your help with this!

• IF you need to pick your child up early for an appointment, we ask that you please do so NO LATER THAN 3:00PM (* or 12:00 PM on an early dismissal day). We will not be able to release students after 3:00 PM (or 12:00PM on an early dismissal day) as the office staff is preparing for regular dismissal. This will also ensure that you are able to get your child and exit the school property prior to parents lining up for regular dismissal. Please send a note with your child to let the teacher and the front office know if you need to pick up your child early for an appointment.

• Afternoon Parent Pick-Ups- Please note the following:

1. Please STOP prior to any intersections for the bus loops at BES and KIES so that they are not blocked. Please remember that the buses are pretty large vehicles and need more space than the average vehicle to safely move through a line of traffic. Blocking the intersections will only delay our dismissal as well as you receiving your child. We appreciate your patience and your assistance with this !
2. We also ask that parents please take turns entering the school driveway to allow both directions of traffic access. This will help to alleviate back-ups in either direction.

QACPS will continue to use MySchoolBucks as our online meal payment system for meals. MySchoolBucks is updated and now accepting payment for the new school year. Families may set up or add money to their account by using the following link :

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/

Parent Volunteer training must be completed each school year. You can access the online training through the link below or from the link on our website. Please note that you must have completed the training for the current school year in order to be considered as a chaperone for a field trip or to volunteer in any capacity within the school. The completion of the volunteer training also includes having your driver's license scanned by our front office staff. You may schedule an appointment to have your license scanned by contacting Mrs. Mary Jo Perticone here at school.

BES Parent Volunteer Training 2022/2023